The Sealed Warrior

⇺15⇻

"Do you know what Kimberly needs?" Dahlia asked as they walked down the road.

"Not sure," Arnoux replied, chuckling nervously.

Dahlia noticed that his knuckles were white from clutching his sword and knife. Arnoux's left hand clutching the sword on his hip, and his right hand grasping a dagger. He looked around constantly, Dahlia also took note that he looked anxious, and his face paled. Her stomach started doing flips as they got closer to the throne, the dark chamber didn't help. She felt Sylva put her hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Sylva whispered. Dahlia only could nod, not trusting her voice.

Sylva looked unconvinced, but still, she went ahead of her and walked alongside Arnoux.

"Did you hear that?" Arnoux said. Dahlia strained her ears to listen, but she heard nothing.

"No. Did you hear something?" Sylva asked.

Then before Dahlia could register what was happening, Arnoux yelled, flicking his hands downward, "Pord ot eht roolf!"

In an instant, Dahlia, Ethan, and Sylva had toppled to the ground by an unknown force.

"Ezeerf, Xuonra!" Said a voice not even a second later.

Arnoux only had time to look toward the mage before he froze, his face in shock and hand outstretched. His lean body was covered in a thin layer of ice. Moments later, multiple guards and mages alike surround them.

"Order of Lady Kimberly, you to be arrested and brought to her! Please stand!" A mage wearing a white tunic stated loudly. The woman had a triangular figure and was paler than the rest of the mages, and her tunic had patterns sewed onto the fabric creating a hypnotizing effect on the onlooker.

They just looked at her. The blue-eyed woman started to get agitated. She yelled, "STAND!" They reluctantly obeyed.

"What are we arrested for?" Ethan inquired, grimacing, holding his head, but continued to stare at the mage.

The woman lifted her chin in the air, "For treason."

"Treason!? How!? We did nothing to offend you!" Sylva shouted, enraged by the accusation. Dahlia laid her hand on Sylva's arm and shook her head. Sylva took a deep breath before calming down.

"Lady Kimberly says otherwise. She told me that she figured out that you were spies working for Kalabhiti. Be brought to her dead or alive," she said, and gave them a wry smile, but her smile quickly dropped when a horrific, inhuman shriek resonated through the air.

"AGH!"
"AH!"
"DRAGTINA!"

Screams sounded through the air as panicked mages and knights alike dropped to the ground and were dragged into the woods. Dahlia stood there in terror, unable to move. Ethan and Sylva were quick to react, she was pushed toward Arnoux's frozen body, the two forming a protective circle around Dahlia.

"How?" The mage, who was just accusing them, backed up toward them, joining the circle.

Dahlia was about to say something, but quickly shook away the thought when another shriek erupted from somewhere along the edge of the path.

"Ezeerfnu, Xuonra," the mage whispered, spinning her left hand in an intricate circle before gesturing to the frozen man. Arnoux collapsed to the ground breathing heavily and shivering the water dissipating around him.

"W-What...ha-happened?" Arnoux said with a slight tremble in his voice.

Dahlia heard Sylva say something inaudible, then she heard Arnoux grumble as Sylva hauled him to his feet. Dahlia was about to turn around, but something in her consciousness told her to stay put. At this point, Dahlia's stomach made her want to puke and she was starting to feel dizzy. She faintly heard a sword being drawn as her vision blinked in and out. She wanted to pass out, she wanted to get out of this situation, she wanted her stomach to stop doing flips, but she was soon snapped out of her thoughts as her eyes met dark red ones. Her mind wanted to scream, but her body stayed paralyzed. Dahlia could barely breathe as another scream echoed throughout the cavern, and the dragtina pounced.